The Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved a 3 per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA) for Central government employees. The decision brings cheers for over 1.16 crore central government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali. The hike will be implemented retrospectively from July 1, 2026. With this latest increase, central government employees will now receive a 63 per cent dearness allowance. The government also announced a 3 per cent increase in dearness relief (DR) for employees and pensioners.
DA/DR is hiked twice a year
Currently, central government employees receive 60 per cent dearness allowance (DA), while pensioners receive 60 per cent dearness relief (DR). Announcing the government's decisions, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated the new rates of dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR).
The government revises dearness allowance and dearness relief (DR) twice a year, in January and July, to help employees and pensioners cope with inflation.
The minister said this latest increase in DA and DR for employees and pensioners follows the approved formula based on the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations. Following this government decision, government employees will receive an increased salary. This will include arrears from July to the present.
Cabinet approves container manufacturing promotion scheme
The Union Cabinet has also approved the Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore to push domestic manufacturing.
According to an official statement, the scheme has four components: interest subvention assistance, testing and certification assistance, land leasing support and operational expenditure assistance. It further said that the annual capacity threshold for a greenfield facility with at least 1,00,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and a brownfield expansion with at least 25,000 TEUs to be commissioned within three years of in-principle approval and meet global container standards.